Biography:

Biography:

Sending greeting cards to friends and family is a tradition that dates back as far as the 1400s in Europe. Early greeting cards were hand-delivered and quite expensive, but they gained popularity with the introduction of the postage stamp in 1840. Valentines cards became the first greeting cards to be circulated, but other major holidays including New Year’s, Christmas, and Easter, followed suit in the late 1800s as advances in printing technology made it affordable for anyone to buy and send cards to friends and relatives. Greeting cards began to be assembled in factories and widely distributed to the general public. In Chester County, this trend is apparent. The earliest greeting cards in the collection are Valentine cards that date back to the 1790s, and the great bulk of the collection comprises major holidays from the late 1800s to the late 1900s. Postcards became a popular and cheap alternative to the greeting card in the same time frame for Chester County residents, reaching their height in usage from 1900 to 1920. There is a variety of postcards in the collection; the majority of them are Christmas-related. With the exchange of New Year’s, Valentine’s, Easter, Christmas, and birthdays, along with many other holidays and special occasion cards, greetings card are still popular today to extend expressions of friendship and good sentiments.

There were previous arrangement attempts of the Greeting Cards Collection. Early efforts were led by Rosemary Phillips, the librarian from 1975-1995. Phillips was the first professionally trained librarian at Chester County Historical Society. Phillips arranged parts of the collection in the 1980s and 1990s, but did not finish it. Researchers will find that Boxes 10-13 are organized by topic through Rosemary Phillips’s organization system.

Collection Scope:

Collection Scope:

The collection consists of a variety of greeting cards and postcards. They were exchanged among friends, family, colleagues, and significant others that resided in Chester County. The bulk of them are for major holidays. Major holidays include New Year’s/birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Easter. There is a smaller portion of the collection for minor holidays, such as Memorial Day and Mother’s Day.

Collection Arrangement:

Collection Arrangement:

The collection is organized mostly by date and the appropriate holiday. However, a portion of the collection is organized by topic. Topic is the primary system of organization for Boxes 10-13 of the Christmas Cards section of the collection.

Related Material:

Related Material:

The bulk of this collection comes from Bart Anderson. For materials on Bart Anderson or related topics, see the guides on the Bart Anderson Papers, Scrapbooks Collection, Calendars Collection, or the Paper Dolls and Toys Collection.

Collection Contents:

Collection Contents:

Box 1

Birthday: 1878-1961, New Year’s: 1870s-1929

Birthday Cards-Undated

Birthday Cards Post 1970s

New Year Greeting Cards 1877-1886

Hebrew/Jewish New Year Greeting Cards 1960s

New Year’s: 1902-1912

New Year’s: 1870-1879

New Year’s: 1900-1910

New Year’s 1910-1919

New Year’s: 1920s-1940s

New Year’s: Undated

Birthday Cards: Some undated, 1878- 1899

Birthday Cards: 1910-1961

Birthday Cards: Undated, l870s-1890s?

Birthday Cards: 1880s?

Birthday Cards 1906-1909

Box 2

Valentines: 1790-1897

Valentines: 1870s

Valentines: 1879

Valentines: 1878

Valentines: 1870s

Valentines: 1876

Valentines: 1873

Valentines: 1871

Valentines: 1810

Valentines:1790-1800

Valentines Greeting Cards: 1820s

Valentines Cards/Illustrations: 1810s-1820s

Valentines Greeting Cards: 1813-1819

Valentines: 1845

Valentines: 1846, handwritten w/ envelope

Valentines: 1847

Ernest Nister Valentines Greeting Cards: late 1800s, 1877-1890s

Valentines: 1836

Mean Valentines papers: 1890s

Valentines: 1840

Valentines: 1849

Valentines: 1850

Valentines: 1851

Valentines: 1853

Valentines: 1850s undated

Valentines: 1855

Valentines: 1856

Valentines: 1857

Valentines: 1859

Valentines from friendship album of Elmira Jefferis Me’e Charington album dated 1844-1879